The Official Combine, AKA "Underwear Olympics" Thread

[TheeRealDeal]

I wanted to make it known before he blows up the combine I have greatly changed my tune on Saquan Barkley and I would gladly take him at #4. I still have the same concerns about him that might keep him from reaching his potential and I stand by comments about him not being a grinder. He is not a feed the beast type of back that can put an entire team on his back like Fournette. If fans are looking for him to bring instant team success they will be disappointing. He is a top flight play maker however and a good offensive coach is going to put him in positions to have big time impact.

I have arrived at this conclusion because I have finally been able to watch a decent amount of the Top 50 or so prospects. There is a shortage of true top shelf prospects this year especially on the offensive side of the board. The gap between Barkley and my #2 RB Ronald Jones is much bigger than the gap from #1 to #2 at any other position and the gap from Saquan Barkley to any other offensive prospect grand canyon large. Calvin Ridley at WR, Hayden Hurst at TE, Mike McGlinchey at OG, Quenton Nelson at OG and Billy Price at OC. 

Another deciding factor for me is that I see the talent pool as far as talent to value of the pick ratio is going to dry up earlier than normal this year IMO. Typically the players from 18-45  are similarly graded by most teams. This year I see that level of talent drying up in the 22-28 range this year making a trade down in this draft for me less than ideal. If we we able to stay in the Top 7 or 8 and land future picks like a 2019 1st and 2020 2nd. I don't see teams willing to do that though.

I don't like his first instinct being to bounce to the outside and I wish he ran behind his pads more and I don't typically care for the idea of RB in the Top 5 due to value but Barkley can be special and the value is not there in this years draft. I have officially been swung to the side of Pro-Barkley.

[Kiwibrown]

10 minutes ago, TheeRealDeal said:

I wanted to make it known before he blows up the combine I have greatly changed my tune on Saquan Barkley and I would gladly take him at #4. I still have the same concerns about him that might keep him from reaching his potential and I stand by comments about him not being a grinder. He is not a feed the beast type of back that can put an entire team on his back like Fournette. If fans are looking for him to bring instant team success they will be disappointing. He is a top flight play maker however and a good offensive coach is going to put him in positions to have big time impact.

I have arrived at this conclusion because I have finally been able to watch a decent amount of the Top 50 or so prospects. There is a shortage of true top shelf prospects this year especially on the offensive side of the board. The gap between Barkley and my #2 RB Ronald Jones is much bigger than the gap from #1 to #2 at any other position and the gap from Saquan Barkley to any other offensive prospect grand canyon large. Calvin Ridley at WR, Hayden Hurst at TE, Mike McGlinchey at OG, Quenton Nelson at OG and Billy Price at OC. 

Another deciding factor for me is that I see the talent pool as far as talent to value of the pick ratio is going to dry up earlier than normal this year IMO. Typically the players from 18-45  are similarly graded by most teams. This year I see that level of talent drying up in the 22-28 range this year making a trade down in this draft for me less than ideal. If we we able to stay in the Top 7 or 8 and land future picks like a 2019 1st and 2020 2nd. I don't see teams willing to do that though.

I don't like his first instinct being to bounce to the outside and I wish he ran behind his pads more and I don't typically care for the idea of RB in the Top 5 due to value but Barkley can be special and the value is not there in this years draft. I have officially been swung to the side of Pro-Barkley.

I agree I have a split mind about the number 4 pick.

but would happily take Barkley there, not so much as a running back but as a play maker.

we would need another power running back to compliment him and Duke.

that said we need to give Duke money now.

iid go 3 years 30 million dollar with 15 guaranteed

[TheeRealDeal]

Excited to see what Marcus Davenport does in drills as well as late round guys I have been following for awhile in Kemoko Turay and Ade Aruna.

Tim Settle may shock some people at the combine. I just recently was able to watch him and he explodes off the screen. Literally explodes because his explosiveness comes as a complete shock. The guy is a freakish athlete for his size. He isn't just athletic once he gets moving like many big guys he gets moving in a hurry. While watching him I couldn't tell you how many times the though "Seriously, we finally seem to be a 43 team and now there is a legit pro bowl level NT out there" ran through my head. All those years of trying to find our Casey Hampton, Jamaal Williams or Vince Wilfork and now he is out there but we are a 43 team and fairly well off at the DT position. I don't know that he is going to lay down a freak 40 time like Dontari Poe did but I was far more impressed with his football film than I was with Poe. I have moved him up to #2 DT behind Vea and its a small gap IMO.

 I want to find out what type of athlete Mike McGlinchey is in comparison to some of the top LTs in the game today because he is clearly a top shelf mauler as a run blocker. His only questions for me is how well he will handle the pass rush.

Fred Warner is a LB who jumps off he page athletically as well as Leighton Vander Esch. Really want to see their numbers and how they compare to Smith and Edmunds at the top. 

R.J. McIntosh and Andrew Brown look like they can be very explosive 3tech for someone. My thoughts after watching then is that they don't make it to middle of round 3 but if they make it that far then we would be wise to draft them as we lack a true explosive pocket pusher in the middle. We are well enough off at DT I wouldn't consider it with out Top 65 picks though.

Looking forward to seeing Trevyon Henderson and Jordan Whitehead in drills. They could be mid round stills at FS and honestly the only true rangy centerfielder types in the draft.

Want to see how fast Marcell Ateman runs. Love his game and his size. Deon Cain looks like he could be an elite deep threat if he can get his inconsistent hands under control. Want to see how well he catches this week.

Two underrated corners I like and curious to see how they test out are M.J. Stewart and Kameron Kelly. Kelly is a ball hawk while Stewart is a tough as nails nickle defender.

[H2ThaIzzo]

1 hour ago, TheeRealDeal said:

Excited to see what Marcus Davenport does in drills as well as late round guys I have been following for awhile in Kemoko Turay and Ade Aruna.

Tim Settle may shock some people at the combine. I just recently was able to watch him and he explodes off the screen. Literally explodes because his explosiveness comes as a complete shock. The guy is a freakish athlete for his size. He isn't just athletic once he gets moving like many big guys he gets moving in a hurry. While watching him I couldn't tell you how many times the though "Seriously, we finally seem to be a 43 team and now there is a legit pro bowl level NT out there" ran through my head. All those years of trying to find our Casey Hampton, Jamaal Williams or Vince Wilfork and now he is out there but we are a 43 team and fairly well off at the DT position. I don't know that he is going to lay down a freak 40 time like Dontari Poe did but I was far more impressed with his football film than I was with Poe. I have moved him up to #2 DT behind Vea and its a small gap IMO.

 I want to find out what type of athlete Mike McGlinchey is in comparison to some of the top LTs in the game today because he is clearly a top shelf mauler as a run blocker. His only questions for me is how well he will handle the pass rush.

Fred Warner is a LB who jumps off he page athletically as well as Leighton Vander Esch. Really want to see their numbers and how they compare to Smith and Edmunds at the top. 

R.J. McIntosh and Andrew Brown look like they can be very explosive 3tech for someone. My thoughts after watching then is that they don't make it to middle of round 3 but if they make it that far then we would be wise to draft them as we lack a true explosive pocket pusher in the middle. We are well enough off at DT I wouldn't consider it with out Top 65 picks though.

Looking forward to seeing Trevyon Henderson and Jordan Whitehead in drills. They could be mid round stills at FS and honestly the only true rangy centerfielder types in the draft.

Want to see how fast Marcell Ateman runs. Love his game and his size. Deon Cain looks like he could be an elite deep threat if he can get his inconsistent hands under control. Want to see how well he catches this week.

Two underrated corners I like and curious to see how they test out are M.J. Stewart and Kameron Kelly. Kelly is a ball hawk while Stewart is a tough as nails nickle defender.

I'm really a fan of Ateman. Not sure how fast he will run, but I think worst case you're going to get a poor man's Mike Evans in him. Maybe similar player to Vincent Jackson but a more consistent career overall when all is said and done. We will see how fast he runs. 

[NateDawg]

I’m excited to see which guys that know they are on the brink of millions of dollars are still going to test positive for banned substances/give diluted samples, knowing they will be drug tested.

[MWil23]

4 hours ago, NateDawg said:

I’m excited to see which guys that know they are on the brink of millions of dollars are still going to test positive for banned substances/give diluted samples, knowing they will be drug tested.

I legit LOLd.

But the 49ers clearly WON the draft last year, selecting a 3rd consecutive DL in the 1st round in Solomon Thomas at #3 overall, and then proceeded to finish with 41 tackles and 3 sacks through 14 games. He had a very limited role, showing promise against teams like Arizona and JAX, while battling a knee injury.

And then Reuben Foster fell to the LATE 1st, where San Francisco said if they had the #4 pick in the draft they would have taken him since he was #3 on their draft board. Now, he's an absolute mess and all of the character/drug issues going all the way back to the combine unsurprisingly to most have come back to rear their ugly heads.

I wonder if they still WON the draft and if Lynch is still a genius?

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

10 hours ago, TheeRealDeal said:

I wanted to make it known before he blows up the combine I have greatly changed my tune on Saquan Barkley and I would gladly take him at #4.

I don't like his first instinct being to bounce to the outside and I wish he ran behind his pads more and I don't typically care for the idea of RB in the Top 5 due to value but Barkley can be special and the value is not there in this years draft. I have officially been swung to the side of Pro-Barkley.

You’re the worst.

Consider me your mortal enemy (until the draft is over).

[NateDawg]

43 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

I legit LOLd.

But the 49ers clearly WON the draft last year, selecting a 3rd consecutive DL in the 1st round in Solomon Thomas at #3 overall, and then proceeded to finish with 41 tackles and 3 sacks through 14 games. He had a very limited role, showing promise against teams like Arizona and JAX, while battling a knee injury.

And then Reuben Foster fell to the LATE 1st, where San Francisco said if they had the #4 pick in the draft they would have taken him since he was #3 on their draft board. Now, he's an absolute mess and all of the character/drug issues going all the way back to the combine unsurprisingly to most have come back to rear their ugly heads.

I wonder if they still WON the draft and if Lynch is still a genius?

Players that fail a combine drug test should not even have to take the wonderlic test. They’ve already failed it. Like, you have to be legitimately dumb or don’t care in order to be in that position. 

In general, I laugh at the “won the draft” Mel Kiper segments immediately following the draft. He says whichever team with guys that he liked the most “win” the draft. He makes educated or uneducated guesses much like anyone else. 

[Aztec Hammer]

Character issues in college almost always translate to the pros at some level.

Those who understand the privilege of playing in the NFL tend to get in character in college to prepare themselves accordingly.

Those that mess up in college are very worrying. Those that mess up at the Combine are straight up undraftable.

[Aztec Hammer]

Darnold will not throw at the Combine. I don't like that at all.

It makes no sense to me.

[Bonanza23]

18 minutes ago, Aztec Hammer said:

Darnold will not throw at the Combine. I don't like that at all.

It makes no sense to me.

I think he wants more time to work on his release. Not a big deal to me. 

[Aztec Hammer]

Just now, Bonanza23 said:

I think he wants more time to work on his release. Not a big deal to me. 

Hope so. I agree with Rich Eisen, it will make for an awkward half an hour when he's standing there in a hoodie, not throwing and competing, whilst everyone else is.

If only it was because the Browns have already told him they're taking him #1 haha.

[MWil23]

21 minutes ago, Aztec Hammer said:

Darnold will not throw at the Combine. I don't like that at all.

It makes no sense to me.

If I were half of these guys, I wouldn't do jack _________ at the combine. Half of them only have something to lose. If you want to draft me/see me, come to MY pro day, where I'm throwing to MY WR, off of a script, on MY TERMS, so that MY timing is down and that MY draft stock and MY paycheck aren't negatively impacted.

JMHO

[Aztec Hammer]

6 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

If I were half of these guys, I wouldn't do jack _________ at the combine. Half of them only have something to lose. If you want to draft me/see me, come to MY pro day, where I'm throwing to MY WR, off of a script, on MY TERMS, so that MY timing is down and that MY draft stock and MY paycheck aren't negatively impacted.

JMHO

The problem is when every other QB is throwing at the Combine and doing it on the NFLs terms, and you're the one guy who's not... it isn't the best look.

[Bonanza23]

8 minutes ago, Aztec Hammer said:

Hope so. I agree with Rich Eisen, it will make for an awkward half an hour when he's standing there in a hoodie, not throwing and competing, whilst everyone else is.

If only it was because the Browns have already told him they're taking him #1 haha.

I’d honestly prefer him to throw. But he literally has nothing to gain.